Best of
Writing

2007

The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller


John Truby - 2007
    As a result, writers will dig deep within and explore their own values and worldviews in order to create an effective story. Writers will come away with an extremely precise set of tools to work with--specific, useful techniques to make the audience care about their characters, and that make their characters grow in meaningful ways. They will construct a surprising plot that is unique to their particular concept, and they will learn how to express a moral vision that can genuinely move an audience.The foundations of story that Truby lays out are so fundamental they are applicable--and essential--to all writers, from novelists and short-story writers to journalists, memoirists, and writers of narrative non-fiction.

Everyday Editing: Inviting Students to Develop Skill and Craft in Writer's Workshop


Jeff Anderson - 2007
    Too many times daily editing lessons happen in a vacuum, with no relationship to what students are writing.In Everyday Editing, Jeff Anderson asks teachers to reflect on what sort of message this approach sends to students. Does it tell them that editing and revision are meaningful parts of the writing process, or just a hunt for errors with a 50/50 chance of getting it right—comma or no comma?Instead of rehearsing errors and drilling students on what's wrong with a sentence, Jeff invites students to look carefully at their writing along with mentor texts, and to think about how punctuation, grammar, and style can be best used to hone and communicate meaning.Written in Jeff's characteristically witty style, this refreshing and practical guide offers an overview of his approach to editing within the writing workshop as well as ten detailed sets of lessons covering everything from apostrophes to serial commas. These lessons can be used throughout the year to replace Daily Oral Language or error-based editing strategies with a more effective method for improving student writing.

The Making of a Story: A Norton Guide to Writing Fiction and Nonfiction


Alice LaPlante - 2007
    Its hands-on, completely accessible approach walks writers through each stage of the creative process, from the initial triggering idea to the revision of the final manuscript. It is unique in combing the three main aspects of creative writing instruction: process (finding inspiration, getting ideas on the page), craft (specific techniques like characterization), and anthology (learning by reading masters of the form). Succinct, clear definitions of basic terms of fiction are accompanied by examples, including excerpts from masterpieces of short fiction and essays as well as contemporary novels. A special highlight is Alice LaPlante's systematic debunking of many of the so-called rules of creative writing. This book is perfect for writers working alone as well as for creative writing classes, both introductory and advanced.

Writing the Other


Nisi Shawl - 2007
    This opinion, commonplace among published as well as aspiring writers, struck Nisi as taking the easy way out and spurred her to write an essay addressing the problem of how to write about characters marked by racial and ethnic differences. In the course of writing the essay, however, she realized that similar problems arise when writers try to create characters whose gender, sexual preference, and age differ significantly from their own. Nisi and Cynthia collaborated to develop a workshop that addresses these problems with the aim of both increasing writers' skill and sensitivity in portraying difference in their fiction as well as allaying their anxieties about ''getting it wrong.'' Writing the Other: A Practical Approach is the manual that grew out of their workshop. It discusses basic aspects of characterization and offers elementary techniques, practical exercises, and examples for helping writers create richer and more accurate characters with ''differences.''

Police Procedure & Investigation: A Guide for Writers


Lee Lofland - 2007
    In fact, a lot of it is flat out wrong. Police Procedure & Investigation helps you get your facts straight about the inner workings of law enforcement.With a career in law enforcement that spanned nearly two decades, author Lee Lofland is a nationally acclaimed expert on police procedures and crime scene investigations who consults regularly with best-selling authors and television producers. Now you can benefit from his years of experience with Police Procedure & Investigation.This comprehensive resource includes:More than 80 photographs, illustrations, and charts showing everything from defensive moves used by officers to prison cells and autopsiesDetailed information on officer training, tools of the trade, drug busts, con air procedures, crime scene investigation techniques, and moreFirst-person details from the author about his experiences as a detective, including accounts of arrests, death penalty executions, and criminal encountersPolice Procedure & Investigation is the next best thing to having a police detective personally assigned to your book!

Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors


Kathy Ide - 2007
    Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors, by professional freelance author, editor, and proofreader Kathy Ide, is the essential go-to tool for aspiring and experienced writers and editors. This book includes all of the material from Ide's popular Polishing the PUGS book (now out of print), with added PUGS guidelines and helpful tips from multi-published authors on how to catch typos and other common mistakes. In Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors, Kathy Ide identifies the industry-standard references for books, magazines, and newspapers (which are different from the guidelines for other types of writing, such as college term papers). Using these official references, she highlights the most common mistakes writers make in the areas of punctuation, usage, grammar, and spelling (for which she uses the acronym PUGS). She also includes guidelines from The Christian Writer's Manual of Style for authors and editors who work in the inspirational market.

How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing


Paul J. Silvia - 2007
    Writing is hard work and can be difficult to wedge into a frenetic academic schedule.This revised and updated edition of Paul Silvia's popular guide provides practical, light-hearted advice to help academics overcome common barriers and become productive writers. Silvia's expert tips have been updated to apply to a wide variety of disciplines, and this edition has a new chapter devoted to grant and fellowship writing.

Mentor Texts: Teaching Writing Through Children's Literature, K-6


Lynne R. Dorfman - 2007
    Each “Your Turn” lesson is built around the gradual release of responsibility model, offering suggestions for demonstrations and shared or guided writing. Reflection is emphasized as a necessary component to understanding why mentor authors chose certain strategies, literary devices, sentence structures, and words.This practical resource demonstrates the power of learning to read like writers. It shows teachers and students how to discover the ways that authors make writing come alive, and how to use that knowledge to inspire and improve their own writing.

Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works


Janice G. Redish - 2007
    Ironically, I must recommend that you read her every word so that you can find out why your customers won't read very many words on your website -- and what to do about it.-- Jakob Nielsen, Principal, Nielsen Norman Group"There are at least twelve billion web pages out there. Twelve billion voices talking, but saying mostly nothing. If just 1% of those pages followed Ginny's practical, clear advice, the world would be a better place. Fortunately, you can follow her advice for 100% of your own site's pages, so pick up a copy of Letting Go of the Words and start communicating effectively today."--Lou Rosenfeld, co-author, Information Architecture for the World Wide WebOn the web, whether on the job or at home, we usually want to grab information and use it quickly. We go to the web to get answers to questions or to complete tasks - to gather information, reading only what we need. We are all too busy to read much on the web.This book helps you write successfully for web users. It offers strategy, process, and tactics for creating or revising content for the web. It helps you plan, organize, write, design, and test web content that will make web users come back again and again to your site.Learn how to create usable and useful content for the web from the master - Ginny Redish. Ginny has taught and mentored hundreds of writers, information designers, and content owners in the principles and secrets of creating web information that is easy to scan, easy to read, and easy to use.This practical, informative book will help anyone creating web content do it better.Features* Clearly-explained guidelines with full color illustrations and examples from actual web sites throughout the book. * Written in easy-to-read style with many befores and afters.* Specific guidelines for web-based press releases, legal notices, and other documents.* Tips on making web content accessible for people with special needs.Janice (Ginny) Redish has been helping clients and colleagues communicate clearly for more than 20 years. For the past ten years, her focus has been helping people create usable and useful web sites. She is co-author of two classic books on usability: A Practical Guide to Usability Testing (with Joseph Dumas), and User and Task Analysis for Interface Design (with JoAnn Hackos), and is the recipient of many awards.

Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers' Guide from the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University


Mark Kramer - 2007
    Telling True Stories presents their best advice—covering everything from finding a good topic, to structuring narrative stories, to writing and selling your first book. More than fifty well-known writers offer their most powerful tips, including: • Tom Wolfe on the emotional core of the story • Gay Talese on writing about private lives • Malcolm Gladwell on the limits of profiles • Nora Ephron on narrative writing and screenwriters • Alma Guillermoprieto on telling the story and telling the truth • Dozens of Pulitzer Prize–winning journalists from the Atlantic Monthly, New Yorker, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and more . . .The essays contain important counsel for new and career journalists, as well as for freelance writers, radio producers, and memoirists. Packed with refreshingly candid and insightful recommendations, Telling True Stories will show anyone fascinated by the art of writing nonfiction how to bring people, scenes, and ideas to life on the page.

Make a Scene: Crafting a Powerful Story One Scene at a Time


Jordan E. Rosenfeld - 2007
    This title explains the fundamentals of strong scene construction and how other useful fiction-writing techniques, such as character development, description, and transitions must function within the framework of individual scenes.

Holly Lisle's Create A Plot Clinic


Holly Lisle - 2007
    Learn to plot without fear of error, to enjoy a process that keeps your story fresh, to adapt your plot to brilliant middle-of-the-book inspiration WITHOUT derailing your writing process, and much more. Holly Lisle's Create A Plot Clinic is a funny, relaxed, and comprehensive start-to-finish course with a step-by-step process that includes worksheets, examples, and how-to advice for writers of every genre, and for every experience level---from absolute beginner with no idea how to get started, to published pro looking for an easier way to beat a tight deadline.

The TV Writer's Workbook: A Creative Approach To Television Scripts


Ellen Sandler - 2007
    And, like any business, there are proven strategies for success. In this unique hands-on guide, television writer and producer Ellen Sandler shares the trade secrets she learned while writing for hit shows like Everybody Loves Raymond and Coach. She offers concrete advice on everything from finding a story to getting hired on a current series.Filled with easy-to-implement exercises and practical wisdom, this ingenious how-to handbook outlines the steps for becoming a professional TV writer, starting with a winning script. Sandler explains the difference between “selling” and “telling,” form and formula, theme and plot. Discover:• A technique for breaking down a show style so you’re as close to being in the writing room as you can get without actually having a job there• The 3 elements for that essential Concept Line that you must havein order to create a story with passion and consequence• Mining the 7 Deadly Sins for fresh and original story lines• Sample scripts from hit shows• In-depth graphs, script breakdown charts, vital checkpointsalong the way, and much, much more!

Breath for the Bones: Art, Imagination, and Spirit: Reflections on Creativity and Faith


Luci Shaw - 2007
    For the Christian artist, the drive to create something wonderful is also a means to glorify and better understand our Lord. Using excerpts from her own works as well as those of writers who have gone before her--Emily Dickinson, Annie Dillard, C.S. Lewis, and others--poet and writer Luci Shaw proves that symbolism and metaphor provide ways for humans to experience God in new and powerful ways.Shaw offers a rich and thought-provoking exploration of art, creativity, and faith. Believing that art emanates from God, she shows how imagination and spirituality "work in tandem, each feeding on and nourishing the other." Faith informs art and art enhances faith. They both, for each other, are "breath for the bones."Provocative, enlightening, and above all, inspiring, "Breath for the Bones" will help readers discover the artist within, and bring them further along the path to God Himself.Include s Discussion Questions and Writing Exercises

Improve your IELTS Writing Skills


Sam McCarter - 2007
    This series has three preparation courses, Academic Reading, Academic Writing, and Listening and Speaking. The courses develop language, skills and test techniques to help students achieve a higher IELTS score.

The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot


Charles Baxter - 2007
    Using an array of examples from Melville and Dostoyevsky to contemporary writers Paula Fox, Edward P. Jones, and Lorrie Moore, Baxter explains how fiction writers create those visible and invisible details, how what is displayed evokes what is not displayed.The Art of Subtext is part of The Art of series, a new line of books by important authors on the craft of writing, edited by Charles Baxter. Each book examines a singular, but often assumed or neglected, issue facing the contemporary writer of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. The Art of series means to restore the art of criticism while illuminating the art of writing.

Destination Dissertation: A Traveler's Guide to a Done Dissertation


Sonja K. Foss - 2007
    Destination Dissertation is a handbook that helps students successfully develop and complete their dissertations. It uses travel as a metaphor framing the process as an exciting trip of 29 steps that can be completed in less than nine months. Designed for use by students in all disciplines and for both quantitative and qualitative dissertations, the book shows concrete and efficient processes for completing those parts of the dissertation where students tend to get stuck, from conceptualizing a topic to editing the final work. It includes a wealth of real-life examples from throughout the dissertation process, such as creating the proposal and coding data. This time-tested method comes from the authors' successful work at the Denver-based Scholars' Retreat. Essential for all PhD candidates!

Writing Begins with the Breath: Embodying Your Authentic Voice


Laraine Herring - 2007
    With warmth and wisdom, Herring offers a path to discovering "deep writing"—prose that is unique, expressive, and profoundly authentic. Lessons and imaginative exercises show you how to: stay with your writing when your mind or body starts to pull you away; explore the five senses in your writing; and approach your writing without judgment. Writing Begins with the Breath will open up a whole world of creativity for people who may not have considered themselves writers before, while also providing keen insights into the craft for seasoned writers.

Passionate Ink: A Guide to Writing Erotic Romance


Angela Knight - 2007
    But riding the wave to success takes more than stringing together a couple of sex scenes. "USA Today" bestselling author Knight shares the down and dirty details on writing erotic romances that will keep readers coming back for more.

The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success


Carolyn Howard-Johnson - 2007
    They -- resolved to embarrass you before the gatekeepers who can turn the key of success for you -- lurk in your subconscious and the depths of your computer programs. Whether you are a newor experienced author, BEST BOOK FORWARD: HOW TO MAKE A SPOTLESS FIRST IMPRESSION WITH EVERYTHING YOU WRITE (This is the back of book, second subtitle) will help you present whistle-clean copy (whether it's a one-page cover letter or your entire manuscript) to those who have the power to say Yea or Nay.

Ron Carlson Writes a Story


Ron Carlson - 2007
    In this book-length essay, he offers a full range of notes and gives rare insight into a veteran writer’s process by inviting the reader to watch over his shoulder as he creates the short story “The Governor’s Ball.”“This is a story of a story,” he begins, and proceeds to offer practical advice for creating a great story, from the first glimmer of an idea to the final sentence. Carlson urges the writer to refuse the outside distractions—a second cup of coffee, a troll through the dictionary—and attend to the necessity of uncertainty, the pleasures of an unfolding story.“The Governor’s Ball”—included in its entirety—serves as a fascinating illustration of the detailed anatomy of a short story.

The Art of Time in Memoir: Then, Again


Sven Birkerts - 2007
    Each book will be a brief, witty, and useful exploration of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry by a writer impassioned by a singular craft issue. The Art Of volumes will provide a series of sustained examinations of key but sometimes neglected aspects of creative writing by some of contemporary literature's finest practioners.In The Art of Time in Memoir, critic and memoirist Sven Birkerts examines the human impulse to write about the self. By examining memoirs such as Vladimir Nabokov's Speak, Memory; Virginia Woolf's unfinished A Sketch of the Past; and Mary Karr's The Liars' Club, Birkerts describes the memoirist's essential art of assembling patterns of meaning, stirring to life our own sense of past and present.

Structure & Surprise: Engaging Poetic Turns


Michael Theune - 2007
    Michael Theune's breakthrough concept encourages students, teachers, and writers to use structure as a tool to see the fundamental affinities between strikingly different kinds of poetry and radically different literary eras. The book includes examination of the mid-course turn and the elegy, as well as the ironic, concessional, emblem, and retrospective-prospective structures, among others. In addition, 14 contemporary poets provide an example of and commentary on their own work.

Garner on Language & Writing


Bryan A. Garner - 2007
    Garner has proved to be a versatile and prolific writer on legal-linguistic subjects. This collection of his essays shows both profound scholarship and sharp wit. The essays cover subjects as wide-ranging as learning to write, style, persuasion, contractual and legislative drafting, grammar, lexicography, writing in law school, writing in law practice, judicial writing, and all the literature relating to these diverse subjects.

By Cunning & Craft: Sound Advice and Practical Wisdom for Fiction Writers


Peter Selgin - 2007
    Based on the belief that writing successful fiction is a balance between making the right conscious choices and trusting one's own instincts, this text shows readers how to combine the instinctive process of creation with sound technical ingenuity.

Listography Journal: Your Life in Lists


Lisa Nola - 2007
    Some lists are obvious (greatest accomplishments, best friends, favorite food), others obscure (guiltiest pleasures, greatest acts of kindness, personal fashion trends), and each list is accompanied by hilarious illustrations.Listography is perfect for getting down all the details of a life less ordinary.

How to Become a Famous Writer Before You're Dead: Your Words in Print and Your Name in Lights


Ariel Gore - 2007
    True, you’ll actually have to write if you want to be a writer, but ultimately literary success is about much more than putting pen to paper (or fingers to keys). Before you snap your pencil in half with frustration, please consider the advice writer, teacher, and self-made lit star Ariel Gore offers in this useful guide to realizing your literary dreams. If you find yourself writing when you should be sleeping and scribbling notes on odd pieces of paper at every stoplight, you might as well enjoy the fruits of your labor. How to Become a Famous Writer Before You’re Dead is an irreverent yet practical guide that combines solid writing advice with guerrilla marketing and promotion techniques guaranteed to launch you into print—and into the limelight. You’ll learn how to: • Reimagine yourself as a buzz-worthy artist and entrepreneur• Get your work and your name out in the world where other people can read it• Be an anthology slut and a brazen self-promoter• Apply real-world advice and experience from lit stars like Dave Barry, Susie Bright, and Dave Eggers to your own careerCheaper than an M.F.A. but just as informative, How to Become a Famous Writer Before You’re Dead is your catapult to lit stardom. Just don’t forget to thank Ariel Gore for her inspiring, hands-on plan in the acknowledgments page of your first novel!

Forensics and Fiction: Clever, Intriguing, and Downright Odd Questions from Crime Writers


D.P. Lyle - 2007
    P. Lyle, M.D., has answered many cool, clever, and oddball questions over the years. Forensics and Fiction: Clever, Intriguing, and Downright Odd Questions from Crime Writers is a collection of the best of these questions. The answers are provided in a concise and entertaining fashion that will keep you wide awake so you can read "just one more."

The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write


Mark David Gerson - 2007
     YOU'LL NEVER FEEL THE SAME ABOUT WRITING AGAIN! "Mark David is a master of the word...absolutely a catalyst for my writing." - Joan Cerio, author of "Hardwired to Heaven" "Whenever I feel blocked, I open this book, read a couple of pages and feel inspired again." - Anna Blagoslavova, Moscow, Russia "Mark David Gerson's "The Voice of the Muse" book and recording saved my languishing novel!" - Katie Thomas, Lynchburg, VA Works well in conjunction with "The Voice of the Muse Companion: Guided Meditations for Writers," a recording that includes the author's recording of ten of the guided meditations in the book and is also available on Amazon. "No writer could ask for a more encouraging guide." - "The Written Word" "The words lie within you. They hover in the shadows, longing to be noticed, yearning to heard, aching to be shared. Together, through this book, you and I will give them voice." - Mark David Gerson, "The Voice of the Muse

The Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips to Clean Up Your Writing


Mignon Fogarty - 2007
    Determined to counter the slipping standards of good writing in daily discourse, Mignon created a weekly podcast called Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing to reach all offenders--from the intimidated to the apathetic. In less than a year, more than five million Grammar Girl podcast episodes have been downloaded, and Mignon has appeared in the pages of The New York Times and dispensed grammar tips on Oprah. In Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips to Clean Up Your Writing, Mignon tackles some of the most common mistakes people make while communicating. From "lay vs. lie" and "affect vs. effect" to split infinitives and run-on sentences, Grammar Girl offers clear explanations and effective memory tricks to help  listeners write (and say) it right.

How to Write Fundraising Materials That Raise More Money: The Art, the Science, the Secrets


Tom Ahern - 2007
    All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead." Certainly, many of us in fundraising feel that way. Whenever we're called upon to draft a solicitation letter, or write copy for the website, or produce a few passages for the annual report, or, heaven forbid, long stretches of a proposal or case statement, we sit there . . . and if we're lucky crank out serviceable prose. Few would call it sparkling. And too few are moved to write a check in response. Each year, bland writing costs organizations mountains of revenue. A) There's the expense of producing the materials - the printing, production, and processing, to say nothing of the postage costs. B) But much more consequential is the lost revenue - the money not raised when these homogenized materials fail to connect with the very people who would donate if they were motivated by what they read. It needn't be this way, and it won't be this way any longer for those who invest a few hours in Tom Ahern's new book, How to Write Fundraising Materials that Raise More Money . But here's a twist: Even if you don't write much, you should read this book. Why? Because it's about more than writing - much more. In truth, the publisher might have called the book: Getting inside the mind of donors and communicating in a way that inspires their loyalty and generosity. What Ahern does - while showing you how to craft your materials - is to plumb the psychology of donors, uncovering what stimulates interest and instills confidence. His advice applies to all forms communications,written and verbal. The short odds are that How to Write Fundraising Materials that Raise More Money will secure a spot in the pantheon of the best fundraising books ever written. Communicating with donors is the bedrock of all fundraising. And no book addresses this topic with such virtuosity.

Elephant Bucks: The Inside Guide to Writing the TV Sitcom


Sheldon Bull - 2007
    Includes detailed inside information on how to choose the right series to spec, how to pick the right story, and detailed, step by step instruction on how to write the scripts that will get you work.

The Artful Edit: On the Practice of Editing Yourself


Susan Bell - 2007
    Brimming with examples, quotes, and case studies that include an illuminating discussion of Max Perkins's editorial collaboration with F. Scott Fitzgerald on The Great Gatsby, this book proves how fundamental editing is to great writing. Bell also offers strategic tips and exercises for self-editing, and a series of remarkable interviews, that take us into the studios of established authors such as Michael Ondaatje, Tracy Kidder, and Ann Patchett to learn from their various approaches to shaping their work after its initial creation. Much more than a manual, The Artful Edit inspires readers to think about both the discipline and the creativity of editing and how editing can enhance their work. A vigorous investigation into the history and meaning of the edit, this book, like The Triggering Town and The Elements of Style, is a must-have companion for every writer.

Telling About Society


Howard S. Becker - 2007
    The work has neither a beginning nor an end. Nor does it contain any analysis. But it nonetheless reveals profound truths about French society during the 1940s and 50s. Taking Perec’s book as its cue, Telling About Society explores the unconventional ways we communicate what we know about society to others. The third in distinguished teacher Howard Becker’s best-selling series of writing guides for social scientists, the book explores the many ways knowledge about society can be shared and interpreted through different forms of telling—fiction, films, photographs, maps, even mathematical models—many of which remain outside the boundaries of conventional social science. Eight case studies, including the photographs of Walker Evans, the plays of George Bernard Shaw, the novels of Jane Austen and Italo Calvino, and the sociology of Erving Goffman, provide convincing support for Becker’s argument: that every way of telling about society is perfect—for some purpose. The trick is, as Becker notes, to discover what purpose is served by doing it this way rather than that. With Becker’s trademark humor and eminently practical advice, Telling About Society is an ideal guide for social scientists in all fields, for artists interested in saying something about society, and for anyone interested in communicating knowledge in unconventional ways.

The Dark Knight (Script)


Jonathan Nolan - 2007
    

Focus on Writing: Paragraphs and Essays


Laurie G. Kirszner - 2007
    Standing for Topic sentence or Thesis statement, Evidence, Summary statement, and Transitions, this practical tool helps students self-edit their writing for unity, support, and coherence. In this edition, best-selling authors Laurie Kirszner and Stephen Mandell expand on their detailed, step-by-step guidance for developing paragraphs; offer more coverage of critical reading and thinking, a new chapter on college success, research; and provide new student models that reflect realistic student work.

Poem, Revised: 54 Poems, Revisions, Discussions


Robert Hartwell Fiske - 2007
    An in-depth look at the writing processes of 54 poems, each by a different modern author, is provided, complete with early drafts, subsequent revised versions, and short essays from the poets themselves revealing how and why they made specific changes, as well as their editing secrets. Poetry lovers will enjoy browsing through their favorite works and authors, and budding writers will learn the skills needed to grow a first draft into a polished final piece.

Believable Characters: Creating with Enneagrams


Laurie Schnebly - 2007
    Discover the fatal flaws that make each of your characters unique, and how they create conflict between likable, plausible people.

Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One & Never Lets Them Go


Les Edgerton - 2007
    Why? If a novel or short story has a bad beginning, then no one will keep reading. It's just that simple. Hooked provides readers with a detailed understanding of what a beginning must include (setup, backstory, the inciting incident, etc.); instruction on how to successfully develop the story problem; tips on how to correct common beginning mistakes; exclusive insider advice from agents, acquiring book editors, and literary journal editors; and much more.

Marvelous Minilessons for Teaching Beginning Writing, K-3


Lori Jamison Rog - 2007
    The lessons in this work are useful to teach students how to: generate and organize ideas before writing, and then turn their prewriting ideas into connected text; develop writing style by focusing on word choice; and more.

Save the Cat! Goes to the Movies: The Screenwriter's Guide to Every Story Ever Told


Blake Snyder - 2007
    In the perfect companion piece to his first book, Snyder delivers even more insider's information gleaned from a 20-year track record as ?one of Hollywood's most successful spec screenwriters, ? giving you the clues to write your movie. Designed for screenwriters, novelists, and movie fans, this book gives readers the key breakdowns of the 50 most instructional movies from the past 30 years. From M*A*S*H to Crash, from Alien to Saw, from 10 to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Snyder reveals how screenwriters who came before you tackled the same challenges you are facing with the film you want to write ? or the one you are currently working on.

Conversations with My Mother: A Keepsake Journal for Celebrating a Lifetime of Stories


Lark Books - 2007
    One thing s for sure: Doing the interview will help make wonderful new memories, along with a volume that will be prized for generations to come.

A Memoir of Friendship: The Letters Between Carol Shields and Blanche Howard


Blanche Howard - 2007
    Carol Shields took her place on the world literary stage when she won the Pulitzer Prize for The Stone Diaries. Blanche Howard, 22 years older than Carol and herself a published, award-winning author, became Shields's mentor and confidante.Written with humour and insight, this window into their daily lives explores their friendship, their disappointment and joys, their ambitions, and their thoughts on other writers and the craft of writing.

Reporting Iraq: An Oral History of the War by the Journalists who Covered It


Mike Hoyt - 2007
    Included are contributions from fifty international journalists, including Dexter Filkins, The New York Times correspondent who won widespread praise for his coverage of Fallujah; Rajiv Chandrassekaran, author of Imperial Life in the Emerald City; Anthony Shadid of the Washington Post, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his war coverage; Richard Engel of NBC; Anne Garrels of NPR, and other star reporters from both the print and broadcast world, not to mention their translators, photo journalists, and a military reporter. All come together to discuss the war from its beginning on, and they hold back nothing on the violence they faced—Farnaz Fassihi of the Wall Street Journal talks about her near–kidnapping by "five men with AK–47s" chasing her car. ("I kept thinking, 'This is it.'") Nor do they hold back discussing how this impacted their work—British reporter Patrick Cockburn of The Independent notes that "One had to spend an enormous amount of time thinking about one's own security," and NPR reporter Deborah Amos observes that it was even more complicated for women: "As time went on we had to dress as Iraqi women, in the most conservative costumes Iraqi women would wear." But perhaps the most fascinating—and chilling—observation is that most saw a disaster in Iraq unfolding long before they were allowed to report it. As Jon Lee Anderson of The New Yorker puts it, various governmental authorities and the media's own fears combined "to keep bad news away from the public," an observation supported by over 21 stunning, full–color photographs—many of which have never been published before due to such censorship. Collected by the editors of America's most prestigious media monitor, the Columbia Journalism Review, such revelations make Reporting Iraq a fascinating and unique look at the war, as well as an important critique of international press coverage.

Random Illuminations: Conversations with Carol Shields


Eleanor Wachtel - 2007
    In this intimate, wide-ranging collection of conversations (and some correspondence), writer-broadcaster Eleanor Wachtel and her friend, author Carol Shields, touch on both the personal and the professional.Eleanor Wachtel first met Carol Shields in 1980; her first interview with Carol occurred in 1987, following the publication of Swann: A Mystery. They soon became friends, embarking on a correspondence and conversations that would last her almost two decades.In this illuminating book, Eleanor Wachtel brings together her rich collection of interviews with Carol from that first occasion to Shields's death in 2003. Disarmingly direct, Carol Shields talks about her writing, language and consciousness, and her interest in "redeeming the lives of lost or vanished women," all the while touching on topics as diverse as feminism, raising children, the metaphorical search for a home, and the joys and griefs of everyday life.Carol Shields is best known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Stone Diaries. She also won the Governor General's Award for fiction, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-fiction, the Orange Prize, and numerous other awards. She was twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

A Year of Questions: How to Slow Down and Fall in Love with Life


Fiona Robyn - 2007
    These questions will nudge you towards parts of yourself that you haven't seen in a while, and open up the opportunity for you to do things differently. They'll help you to put your face right up close to life, so you can really drink in that golden honeysuckle scent, and relish the silkiness of the fur on your cat's belly. This book will offer you a space where you can start to hear yourself. Let this be your year of questions.

The Writer's Diet


Helen Sword - 2007
    This book will help you energise your writing and strip unnecessary padding from your prose. The Writer’s Diet offers a short, sharp introduction to great writing. Through the online test at www.writersdiet.com and the analysis and examples in this book, Helen Sword teaches writers of all kinds – students to teachers, lawyers to librarians – how to transform flabby sentences into active, energetic prose. The book and the website enable writers to diagnose their writing for flab – passives and prepositions, weak verbs and waste words – and energise their work by stripping away unnecessary padding. The rules of good writing are deceptively simple but this book helps writers to see those principles at work, through examples by stylish authors from Charles Dickens to John McPhee. First published in 2007, The Writer’s Diet became a bestselling handbook and now returns refreshed alongside a new version of www.writersdiet.com. The book will highlight your bad habits and sharpen your style – for clearer, crisper sentences filled with words that count. Who says nutritious material must be bland? This short book is packed with excellent advice on writing, offered with charm and good cheer. –Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century. ‘Does my style look big in this?’ The Writer’s Diet shows us how to measure our verbal shape honestly and unflinchingly in private, see what we need to tone, and train in simple steps that we can all enjoy. Concise, punchy, engaging, practical, effective, Helen Sword’s instant classic has become even fitter in this new edition. – Professor Brian Boyd, the University of Auckland

Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction


Jeff Prucher - 2007
    It's a window on a whole genre of literature through the words invented and passed along by the genre's most talented writers. In addition, it shows how many words we consider everyday vocabulary-words like spacesuit, blast off, and robot-had their roots in imaginative literature, and not in hard science.Citations are included for each definition, starting with the earliest usage that can be found. These citations are drawn not only from science fiction books and magazines, but also from mainstream publications, fanzines, screenplays, newspapers, comics, film, songs, and the Internet. In addition to illustrating the different ways each word has been used, citations also show when and where words have moved out of the science fiction lexicon and into that of other subcultures or mainstream English.Brave New Words covers the shared language of science fiction, as well as the vocabulary of science fiction criticism and its fans--those terms that are used by many authors in multiple settings. Words coined in science fiction have become part of the vocabulary of any number of subcultures and endeavors, from comics, to neo-paganism, to aerospace, to computers, to environmentalism, to zine culture. This is the first book to document this vocabulary transfer. Not just a useful reference and an entertaining browse, this book also documents the enduring legacy of science fiction writers and fans.

Manual of Style/The Elements of Style


University of Chicago Press - 2007
    In the 1890s, a proofreader at the University of Chicago Press prepared a single sheet of typographic fundamentals intended as a guide for the University community. That sheet grew into a pamphlet, and the pamphlet grew into a book.Clear, concise, and replete with commonsense advice, The Chicago Manual of Style offers the wisdom of a hundred years of editorial practice while including a wealth of new topics and updated perspectives. For anyone who works with words, whether on a page or computer screen, this continues to be the one reference book you simply must have.The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. - 1st EditionAsserting that one must first know the rules to break them, this classic reference book is a must-have for any student and conscientious writer. Intended for use in which the practice of composition is combined with the study of literature, it gives in brief space the prinicipal requirements of plain English style and concentrates attention on the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated.

The New Comedy Writing Step by Step: Revised and Updated with Words of Instruction, Encouragement, and Inspiration from Legends of the Comedy Profession


Gene Perret - 2007
    In this new book, his first update, Perret offers readers a treasure trove of guidelines and suggestions covering a broad range of comedy writing situations, along with many all-important insights into the selling of one's work. Perret covers all aspects of comedy writing in his uniquely knowledgeable and anecdotal fashion.

Scientific Writing: A Reader and Writer's Guide


Jean-Luc Lebrun - 2007
    Scientific writers must not only present their science, but also work hard to generate and sustain the interest of readers. Attention-getters, sentence progression, expectation-setting, and memory offloaders are essential devices to keep readers and reviewers engaged. The writer needs to have a clear understanding of the role played by each part of a paper, from its eye-catching title to its eye-opening conclusion. This book walks through the main parts of a paper; that is, those parts which create the critical first impression. The unique approach in this book is its focus on the reader rather than the writer. Senior scientists who supervise staff and postgraduates can use the book to review drafts and to help with the writing as well as the science. Young researchers can find solid guidelines that reduce the confusion all new writers face. Published scientists can finally move from what feels right to what is right, identifying mistakes they thought were acceptable, and fully appreciating their responsibility: to guide the reader along carefully laid-out reading tracks.

Writing For Children Young Adults


Marion Crook - 2007
    To create that connection with your young readers, you need an understanding of the fundamental elements of a children's story and the craft of writing.This book will show you how to create stories that will inspire and educate young readers, and meet the needs of your publishers. From learning to find their own voice to finding markets within the many genres of youth writing, this book is invaluable.Loaded with illustrative samples and helpful worksheets, this book will show you how to transform ideas into stories that will delight, intrigue, and satisfy readers - and ultimately result in a manuscript that sells.

The Art of the Poetic Line


James Longenbach - 2007
    Each book will be a brief, witty, and useful exploration of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry by a writer impassioned by a singular craft issue. The Art Of volumes will provide a series of sustained examinations of key but sometimes neglected aspects of creative writing by some of contemporary literature's finest practioners. "Poetry is the sound of language organized in lines." James Longenbach opens this provocative book with that essential statement. Through a range of examples—from Shakespeare and Milton to Ashbery and Glück—Longenbach describes the function of line in metered, rhymed, syllabic, and free-verse poetry. The Art of the Poetic Line is a vital new resource by one of America's most important critics and most engaging poets.

Geary's Guide to the World's Great Aphorists


James Geary - 2007
    The result is Geary's Guide, featuring aphorists like Voltaire, Twain, Shakespeare, Nietzsche, Woody Allen, Muhammad Ali, Emily Dickinson, and Mae West, as well as international practitioners appearing in English for the first time. But it is more than just a conventional anthology. It is also an encyclopedia, containing brief biographies of each author in addition to a selection of his or her aphorisms. The book is a field guide, too, with aphorists organized into eight different "species," such as Comics, Critics & Satirists; Icons & Iconoclasts; and Painters & Poets. The book's two indexes-by author and by subject-make it easily searchable, while its unique organizational structure and Geary's lively biographical entries set it apart from all previous reference works. A perfect follow-up to Geary's New York Times bestseller The World in a Phrase, Geary's Guide is eminently suitable for browsing or for sustained reading. A comprehensive guide to our most intimate, idiosyncratic literary form, the book is an indispensable tool for writers and public speakers as well as essential reading for all language lovers.PRAISE:"...a wonderful breviary of wisdom, insight and cynicism, and one that will immediately find a place at many bedsides...there are pleasures and surprises galore."-Washington Post "An agreeable thing to have in your lap."-Dwight Garner "Geary's Guide to the World's Great Aphorists is a rich, well-edited compendium, which is at once a feast, a frolic, a thought-kit and a treasure trove. A book to relish and to keep close."-John Lahr, New Yorker "A masterful compilation from a man adept at taking the pith."-Ben Schott

True Stories: A Century of Literary Journalism


Norman Sims - 2007
    Sims traces more than a century of its history, examining the cultural connections, competing journalistic schools of thought, and innovative writers that have given literary journalism its power. Seminal exmples of the genre provide ample context and background for the study of this style of journalism.

Growing Great Characters from the Ground Up: A Thorough Primer for Writers of Fiction and Nonfiction


Martha Engber - 2007
    As Growing Great Characters From the Ground Up states, character development is the most important facet of any character-based book, because "readers won't follow for long if they find the people you're writing about dull, one-dimensional or unbelievable." After listing the three attributes of a great character, the book takes readers through a step-by-step process that teaches them how to develop characters from start to finish.

Not Feathers Yet: A Beginner's Guide to the Poetic Life


Lola Haskins - 2007
    A practical guide to the poet's life, including chapters on getting published, finding your own writing style, learning how to lead the life of a poet, by an award-winning, self-taught, and widely published poet.

Checking on Culture: An Aid to Building Story Backgrounds


Lee Killough - 2007
    Every story involves characters whose background has helped make them what they are. The author must create the place and characters. Checking On Culture provides a structured approach to that creation, a checklist Lee Killough developed for writing her own books. The fifty-two items, arranged alphabetically, cover cultural activities from Agriculture to Weights and Measures. Augmenting each category are commentary, examples and questions to help the writer consider all aspects of the category. Habitat determines the materials available for making clothing, and how it is used. Furs keep Eskimos warm in arctic cold. In the desert, long robes hanging loose from the shoulder not only afford protection from the sun but cool by allowing air to circulate up along the body. How do your characters dress? Does clothing differentiate class? The sexes? If body fur, say, makes clothing unnecessary, what do they use for pockets? Whatever the genre, and whether the writer needs just a reminder to be sure of local details in a book set close to home, or wants to construct an entire civilization, the checklist is an adaptable, ideal tool.

Writing Motherhood: Tapping Into Your Creativity as a Mother and a Writer


Lisa Garrigues - 2007
    Drawing on her own efforts to balance the demands of motherhood with her dream of writing, she shows readers how everyday life can be a rich source of stories, and how writing can provide a means to both understand and document their experiences. Whether you are a new mother or a grandmother, someone who has long aspired to write or someone who has never written before, "Writing Motherhood" will help you find your voice and tap into your creative self.Filled with insight, honesty, and humor, each chapter of "Writing Motherhood" weaves together stories from the author's life with wisdom from other writers and mothers. In daily writing Invitations, Lisa then encourages readers to tell their own stories. Along the way, she reveals how to:Start and fill a Mother's Notebook -- in just fifteen minutes a day. Silence the critical voices that stifle creativity. Throw away the rules that bind the imagination. Carve out the time and space for writing. Find a community of other mothers who want to write.Beautifully written and thought-provoking, this inviting and inspiring book will strike a chord with any mother looking to explore and reflect on her experience of motherhood. Here she will discover that mothering provides endless material for writing at the same time that writing brings clarity and wisdom to mothering. "Writing Motherhood" is an essential guidefor mothers at every age and stage of life.

Red Hot Internet Publicity: An Insider's Guide to Promoting Your Book on the Internet!


Penny C. Sansevieri - 2007
    

Reading the Right Books: A Guide for the Intelligent Conservative


Lee Edwards - 2007
    Reading the Right Books is a practical list of thoughtful and accessible books — not the "classics" but solidly good books — recommended to provide a general framework around which the reader can build a firmer structure of political knowledge. Edited and annotated by Lee Edwards, the Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought at The Heritage Foundation, Reading the Right Books is a guide for intelligent, conservative-minded readers who want to prepare themselves for a public life of thought and action, and so seek to know more about politics, public policy and modern conservative thought, as well as literature, economics, religion, history, and statesmanship.

The Blunt Playwright: An Introduction to Playwriting


Clem Martini - 2007
    It examines dramatic structure, discusses the creative process, explores the nature of character in dramatic work, provides a number of writing exercises that are useful for generating text, and cites local and international playwrights throughout.

Renaissance Figures of Speech


Sylvia Adamson - 2007
    As Renaissance critics recognised, figurative language is the key area of intersection between rhetoric and literature. This book is the first modern account of Renaissance rhetoric to focus solely on the figures of speech. It reflects a belief that the figures exemplify the larger concerns of rhetoric, and connect, directly or by analogy, to broader cultural and philosophical concerns within early modern society. Thirteen authoritative contributors have selected a rhetorical figure with a special currency in Renaissance writing and have used it as a key to one of the period's characteristic modes of perception, forms of argument, states of feeling or styles of reading.

The English Language: A User's Guide


Jack Lynch - 2007
    With topics arranged alphabetically and written in an enjoyable and readable tone, The English Language: A User’s Guide will help students and writers understand the nature of the language, explaining the 'why' of the rules as well as what constitutes good grammar and style. Going beyond the prescriptive wrong /right examples, Jack Lynch includes examples of weak/strong, good/better, disputed/preferred, and informal/formal usage.

Great Writers on the Art of Fiction: From Mark Twain to Joyce Carol Oates


James Daley - 2007
    A literary feast of artistic practices and philosophies, its absorbing essays offer a vast array of personal reflections, suggestions, and critiques.Featured writers include Edgar Allan Poe, Henry James, Joseph Conrad, Kate Chopin, and Robert Louis Stevenson. Jack London presents "Advice for Aspiring Writers," Sinclair Lewis recounts "How I Wrote a Novel on the Train and Beside the Kitchen Sink," and Kurt Vonnegut offers tips on "How to Write with Style." Mark Twain provides a guided tour of "My Literary Shipyard," Eudora Welty discusses the shaping of "Words into Fiction," and John Irving addresses the difficulties of "Getting Started." Other contributors include Willa Cather, Raymond Chandler, Wallace Stegner, Raymond Carver, Joyce Carol Oates, and Margaret Atwood.

Conversations with My Father: A Keepsake Journal for Celebrating a Lifetime of Stories


Ronni Lundy - 2007
    

Your Words, Your Story


Cynthia Harrison - 2007
    Includes section on how to publish. This text tells the story of one writer's journey and is ideal for new writer self-study or as a text for adult writing workshops.

The Millennium Phrase Book


Rebecca Andrews - 2007
    With the industry changing faster than we can sometimes put idea to paper, The Millennium Phrase Book is just the thing to give your novel the edge, keep you in the competition. This extensive guide has thousands of commonly used descriptive phrases-also known as tags- that can make the pages of your novel as vivid, colorful and dramatic as you can create. You are limited only by the boundaries you set for yourself. You can make your heroine pulse with life, and give the reader a reason to finish the book. For example: Without tags: His gaze settled on her and she felt as if she'd been touched. With tags: She felt the heat of his dark gaze as it settled on her and slowly, deliberately moved over her curves, leaving a trail of burning need in its wake. Inside this exhaustive treasury you'll find fifteen wonderful categories intended for the hard working romance novelist, neatly organized, with many sub-sections ready to give your imagination a jolt. Of course there are wide-ranging physical descriptions for your Hero/Heroine, Body Movements, Facial Expressions, Voice, Emotions and, of course-Sex. Other Categories include-Emotional/Physical Pain, The Five Senses, Other Worldly, Nature and Battle Scenes. Many categories include extensive in-depth detail. You'll also find numerous hard to find facts. So flip through the pages and let your imagination soar; there is no limit to what you can create. Rebecca Andrews is the author of the short story 'The Christmas Wish', published in the Christmas Wishes Anthology, by Highland Press.

There's No Business Like Soul Business: A Spiritual Path to Enlightened Screenwriting, Filmmaking, and the Performing Arts


Derek Rydall - 2007
    Rydall empowers readers to achieve their dreams and create material that has a postive impact on the planet.

Writing a Successful Thesis or Dissertation: Tips and Strategies for Students in the Social and Behavioral Sciences


Fred C. Lunenburg - 2007
    Drawing on 40 years of experience supervising dissertations, the authors provide examples from 100 completed projects to guide readers through:Choosing a topic and writing research hypotheses Selecting a chair or committee Ensuring a successful proposal and oral defense Adapting the finished product for publication Using the Internet and desktop publishing effectively

Quantum Learner: Focus Your Energy, Get What You Want


Bobbi DePorter - 2007
    Learning is everything you do with it. In this book you ll discover how you learn best, how you re already smart, and how to learn better. As a quantum learner, you can turn every opportunity to learn and perform into a successful experience just by the way you think about it, get ready for it, and take responsibility.

The Nonfictionist's Guide: On Reading and Writing Creative Nonfiction


Robert L. Root Jr. - 2007
    It is often labeled and/or limited as "creative" or "literary" nonfiction and subdivided into essay, memoir, literary journalism, personal cultural criticism, and narratives of nature and travel. A vital and growing form, nonfiction has, until now, needed a sustained discussion about its poetics-both the theory and the craft of this genre. The Nonfictionist's Guide offers a lively exploration of the elements of contemporary nonfiction and suggests imaginative approaches to writing it. Each chapter on a vital aspect of contemporary nonfiction concludes with a separate section of relevant "notes for nonfictionists." Beginning with a new definition of nonfiction and explanation of the nonfiction motive, Robert Root discusses the use of experimental forms, the effects of present and past tense and experiential and reflective voices, and the issue of truth. He provides groundbreaking explorations of the segmented essay and the role of spaces as an essential literary device, guiding both readers and writers through the innovative and stimulating ways we write nonfiction now.

2008 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market


Alice Pope - 2007
    This year's edition offers readers more than 750 listings for book publishers, magazines, agents, art reps and more. Its completely updated annually and is the most trusted source for childrens publishing information with over half a million copies sold since its inception! Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market also contains exclusive interviews with and articles by well-respected and award-winning authors, illustrators, and publishing professionals as well as nuts-and-bolts how-to information. This year's key interview is with Matt Phelan, illustrator of the 2007 Newberry Award winner The Higher Power of Lucky.

Bill Idelson's Writing Class


Bill Idelson - 2007
    You took the class because Bill's students are reputed to get jobs in television and movies more consistently than those who have come from other classes in the country. Bill is now ready to begin the first session, and you will experience his course from beginning to end, and the rest is up to you. Learn how to write for television from someone who really did it. Bill has written for Get Smart, The Flintstones, MASH, Happy Days, The Bob Newhart Show, The Andy Griffith Show, and many more. Two sample scripts from The Andy Griffith Show and Get Smart round out your lessons! 184 pages. Illustrated. 2007. Paperback. Appendices include two sample television scripts. KEYWORDS Bill Idelson, writing for television radio and new media, writing for television series serials & soaps writing for television news, writing for television radio and new media, writing for television series serials & soaps, television writing, screenwriting, script writing, comedy writing, television, television history, television comedy, television comedy writing, Get Smart, Don Adams, The Flintstones, MASH, Alan Alda, Happy Days, The Bob Newhart Show, The Andy Griffith Show,

Rosie's Daughters: The "First Woman To" Generation Tell Its Stories


Matilda Butler - 2007
    Women born between 1940-1945 (my generation ) danced to Elvis, went to college, burned our bras, married and had babies (or sometimes just had babies), climbed career ladders, and fought gender discrimination. ROSIE'S DAUGHTERS helps us understand the social contexts within which our stories have taken place. It is impressively conceived and vividly told. Susan Wittig Albert, best-selling author of the China Bayles mystery series, founder of the Story Circle Network ROSIE'S DAUGHTERS is a unique combination of personal stories, research, history, art and the author's own reflections, engagingly written and beautifully presented. This is social history without the turgid prose, a compilation of interviews without the annoying interruption of flow, even a motivational book without the saccharine, in the appealing voice of a perceptive author. Women who want to reflect constructively on their own lives will find much that is helpful here, as will students seeking to understand an era that powerfully affects their own. Indeed, ROSIE'S DAUGHTERS offers to all a prototype of how to present a rich feast of important information in an appealing, accessible way. Geneva Overholser, Curtis B. Hurley Chair in Public Affairs Reporting, University of MO; and past Editor, Des Moines Register a masterful job of weaving many voices into a text that is easy to read and filled with Aha moments. ROSIE'S DAUGHTERS is a stunning contribution to the history of the movement in America. I take it as a given that ROSIE'S DAUGHTERS will be a textbook in every Women's Studies course across the country, but it deserves a wide readership among the general public as well. ROSIE'S DAUGHTERS helps me understand who those women were, the forces that shaped them, and how very rough and rocky the terrain was before they passed by. Beth Proudfoot, Director of the East of Eden Writers Conference ROSIE'S DAUGHTERS will resonate not only with those born in the early 1940s but with those of us who arrived a decade later, when sex-segregated help-wanted ads still prevailed and when women interested in math and science careers were steered toward school teaching and nursing. Our daughters, sons, and grandchildren will learn of the experiences, triumphs, and failures of this generation through interviews, anecdotes, and historic photos in ROSIE'S DAUGHTERS. Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnett have given us a provocative personal history of our time. Christine L. Borgman, Professor & Presidential Chair in Information Studies, Univ. of California, Los Angeles Diving into the memoir, ROSIE'S DAUGHTERS, was like reading a fun history book where I recognized five generations of my own family. I love the unique format of this book. If I were studying history, I could cram for the test just by riding the;fast track; timeline that runs across the bottom of each page. It is evident that Butler and Bonnett are not only scholars and psychologists, but compassionate human-being who have added a significant chapter to our U.S. history books. Betty Auchard, speaker and award-winning memoir author, Dancing in My Nightgown

Write To Sell


Andy Maslen - 2007
    Aimed at anyone from small and large companies who needs to write sales copy, this title is packed with simple techniques that will yield instant improvements for the reader.

Reading Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises: Glossary and Commentary


H.R. Stoneback - 2007
    The books in this series will gloss or annotate, page by page, word by word, if necessary, like a good guidebook to a city or country. These books will not tell Hemingway readers what to think and feel about an action, a character or a place. Rather, the guides point out features and details possibly overlooked or misunderstood by the 'visitor.' ... These books, side by side with Hemingway's books, may enrich one's reading 'tours.'"--from the ForewordDesigned as an exercise in close reading, this first volume in the series is grounded in narrative and aesthetic concerns, addressing history, local knowledge, actual and symbolic landscape and inscape, and every aspect of the seven-eighths of the story that lies beneath the surface--the submerged iceberg of the fiction. Author H. R. Stoneback equips the reader to sound its depths and take full measure of the novel's allusiveness, indirection, and understatement. Navigating the labyrinthine text of The Sun Also Rises, Stoneback negotiates its intricate, complex, and interconnected passages and leads the reader ultimately to the center of Hemingway's vision.

Meggs: Making Graphic Design History


Robert A. Carter - 2007
    In 1983, he published his History of Graphic Design--the book that not only put graphic design in its historical context; it put graphic design on the cultural map. Before Phil Meggs wrote his seminal book, graphic design was left largely unchronicled. A History of Graphic Design offered designers and students of design a foundation on which to build, a starting point from which to move forward, and a context for graphic design's place in history.This single work afforded an immediate legitimacy to a field that had, until that moment, been considered more of a trade than a profession. As Steven Heller wrote in PRINT magazine, Meggs "laid more than a groundwork; he built a monument to graphic design's legacy. Now he is an integral part of that legacy."Meggs: Making Graphic Design History is at once a retrospective of Phil Megg's achievements as a historian, educator, and artist in his own right, a deserved tribute to his lasting influence on the graphic arts, and a loving memoriam written by family, friends, and colleagues who were lucky enough to have known him.

Impressionists By the Sea


John House - 2007
    2007, Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 20 Oct. 2007-13 Jan. 2008, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Conn., 9 Feb.-11 May 2008.

On Writing Romance: How to Craft a Novel That Sells


Leigh Michaels - 2007
    From the origins and evolution of the romance novel to establishing a vital story framework to writing that last line to seeking out appropriate publishers, everything you ever wanted to know about writing a romance novel is here.In addition to a comprehensive breakdown of more than thirty romance subgenres, including such categories as historical, inspirational, Regency, and sweet traditional, you'll discover how to:Steer clear of cliches and stereotypes by studying the genreCraft engaging and realistic heroes and heroines readers will adoreConvincingly develop the central couple's blossoming relationshipAdd conflict by utilizing essential secondary characters like the "other woman"Use tension and timing to make your love scenes sizzle with sensualityGet your characters to happily-ever-after with an ending readers will always rememberlus, read a sample query letter, cover letter, and synopsis, and learn how to properly prepare you romance novel for submission to agents and editors. On Writing Romance has everything you need to leave readers swooning!

Writing for Wellness: A Prescription for Healing


Julie Davey - 2007
    It includes information about the author's own battle with cancer, Healing Words from more than 60 contributors, and instructions for the reader to write his or her own healing words in the It's Your Turn section.

The Writer's Toolbox: Creative Games and Exercises for Inspiring the 'Write' Side of Your Brain (Writing Prompts, Writer Gifts, Writing Kit Gifts)


Jamie Cat Callan - 2007
    Sixty exercise sticks: First Sentences, Non Sequiturs, and Last Straws will get stories off the ground, 60 cards fuel creative descriptions and four spinner palettes will ignite unexpected plot twists. For any aspiring writer, this kit is the perfect first step on the path to literary greatness!Inspires writers with creative prompts and samplesGets writers in the right headspace to let creativity flowFeatures 60 writing exercises and other creative gamesMake those days and nights of struggling to create writing ideas go away without having to bury yourself in more books with Writer's Toolbox, which makes for the perfect gift for writers.

The Six Figure Freelancer: How To Find, Price And Manage Corporate Writing Assignments


Paul Lima - 2007
    

Writing the Christian Romance


Gail Gaymer Martin - 2007
    This unmatched resource by award-winning novelist Gail Gaymer Martin will help you master basic fiction writing skills, while ensuring your story meets and exceeds the standards of the Christian market. It comprehensively covers the special techniques and elements of the Christian romance novel, as well as how to sell your finished product to a publisher. Through detailed step-by-step instruction, examples from successful Christian romances, and practical exercises, you'll discover how to:develop a story that includes personal, romantic, and spiritual growthincorporate prayer and spirituality into your storyuse introspection to fully develop characters' relationship with Goddiscuss issues of sin and forgiveness in believable wayspresent sexuality realistically, but from a Christian viewpointMartin's exercises will help you apply what you've learned so that you are actively becoming a better writer and can work toward your goal of a finished romance. She'll also teach you the different options for romance publishing–a single title or a category romance–and help you decide what you want to write and who to market it to. Because it covers so much, Writing the Christian Romance will help you create a beautiful romance made even more meaningful because of its openness to God's love.

Guardian Style


David Marsh - 2007
    It's also a mine of information, from the essential to the arcane, from the useful to the things you never realized you needed to know. The hundreds of new and expanded entries include an authoritative section on editing for the web, where the Guardian has an international readership of millions. Wise and witty, irreverent and informed, Guardian Style is an essential guide to the use of good English.

Writing to Communicate 2: Paragraphs and Essays


Cynthia A. Boardman - 2007
    No further information has been provided for this title.

The Palmer Method of Business Writing


A.N. Palmer - 2007
    'The Palmer Method' was developed by Austin Palmer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It was primarily designed to be a simplified version of the 'Spencerian Method', the major standardized system of handwriting since the mid-nineteenth century, and quickly became the most popular handwriting system in America. This text will appeal to those with a keen interest in the history and development of penmanship, and it is a book not to be missed by the discerning collector. Many antiquarian books such as this are increasingly rare and expensive, and it is with this in mind that we are republishing this vintage book now in an affordable, modern edition complete with a new prefatory biography of the author.

Mastering InDesign CS3 for Print Design and Production


Pariah Burke - 2007
    Through the case studies and interviews, readers will find inspired to look beyond the over-emphasized basic features and into the depths of InDesign's utility for real-world print design. Most InDesign books are written for beginners, and experienced users are frustrated by them. When you already know how to make, fill, and thread a text box, the entire first half of most InDesign books is useless. But this one doesn't dwell on the basics. Mastering InDesign for Print Design and Production fulfills the promise of the Mastering series, to provide real-world skills to professionals and students. Like all Mastering books, this one includes:A "by pros for pros" approach: The author is an active professional working in the field of graphic arts, layout, and design, writing for professionals who want to improve their skills or learn new skills. Real-world examples: Running throughout the text are examples of how the various skills are applied in real scenarios, described throughout the book in the form of examples and case studies from the author's own design and consulting work, as well as interviews with other designers using InDesign on the job. Skill-based teaching and hands-on exercises Although the book has a comprehensive glossary, page one begins right away speaking to the core market--print professionals--in industry terms about industry challenges. This immediately lets experienced InDesign users know the book is about them. The approach is humorous, making the digestion and retention of complicated information easier for the reader through quips, anecdotes, and design- and print-geek humor. But at all times the book is true to its mission: Helping a professional do their job in InDesign without frustration, confusion, or aesthetic compromise.

Perfect Punctuation


Stephen Curtis - 2007
    Covering everything from semi-colons to inverted commas, it gives step-by-step guidance on how to use each mark and how to avoid common mistakes. With helpful examples of correct and incorrect usage and exercises that enable you to practise what you've learned, Perfect Punctuation has everything you need to ensure that you never make a mistake again.The Perfect series is a range of practical guides that give clear and straightforward advice on everything from getting your first job to choosing your baby's name. Written by experienced authors offering tried-and-tested tips, each book contains all you need to get it right first time.

Wild Women Throw a Party: 110 Original Recipes and Amazing Menus for Birthday Bashes, Power Showers, Poker Soirees, and Celebrations Galore


Lynette Rohrer Shirk - 2007
    She can bring home the bacon, fry it up, and entertain you all at the same time. Part howto, part history, and 100 percent hilarious, Wild Women Throw a Party is the gift book of the season. Master chef and co-author of the wildly popular Wild Women in the Kitchen, Lynette Shirk has stirred up a bestselling batch of stories, anecdotes, historical facts, recipes, and favorite foods inspired by wellknown Wild Womenfrom Dorothy Parker to Sarah Jessica Parkerand you are invited to a celebration of famed femmes and recipes for fun based on their stories.Let's party like it's 1929 with JazzAge babe Zelda Fitzgerald! Highlights include Dorothy Parker's Cocktail Party, Silver Screen Queens' Oscar Night, Joan Crawford's Mother's Day "Mommy Dearest" Breakfast, and Mary Pickford's Picnic at Pickfair. And nothing beats Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede. But you might want to try the Better Than a Spaghetti Western Pasta Pajama Party, in homage to Sophia Loren. Who knew that dangerous debutante Peggy Guggenheim, famous for her arty party salons, was also a gifted gourmet? Or that when Eleanor Roosevelt wasn't serving at soup kitchens, she was throwing and attending the most elegant "do's" around.From Dollywood to Hollywood, these dazzling dames and sassy sauciers know how to sling spaghetti, toss any salad, and dish up the desserts. Included are 110 original recipes by a master chef and bonafide Wild Woman and features 15 blackandwhite photos of famous Wild Women and a fun, colorful design.

Shakespeare's Wordcraft


Kaiser Scott - 2007
    Written for readers who have a passion for Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Wordcraft takes a comprehensive look at Shakespeare's stellar use of language devices throughout his plays, devices he used to ink memorable lines like these: * I must be cruel only to be kind * Fair is foul, and foul is fair * Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more! * Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! In a clear, accessible, non-academic style - using plain terms, modern quotes, and several thousand examples - Shakespeare's Wordcraft deftly reveals how these lasting lines were not accidental or coincidental, but designed and crafted by a master of the word.

Oxford Junior Illustrated Thesaurus


Sheila Dignen - 2007
    Aimed at children aged seven and above, this is an illustrated first thesaurus to help develop writing skills and increase word-power.

On Tolkien: Interviews, Reminiscences, and Other Essays


Douglas A. Anderson - 2007
    Tolkien through his own words and those of family, friends, and colleaguesA collection of rare interviews and personal reminiscences found nowhere else. Beginning with a short interview with Tolkien from 1957 and continuing with remembrances and essays up through Peter Jackson’s films, the book gives a developing picture of Tolkien the man and writer, first in his own voice and later from recollections of his friends and family.Among the unique pieces are two lengthy recorded interviews that reveal Tolkien’s conversation style. Also included are a discussion by Priscilla of her father’s painting and drawing, and Christopher’s description of the making of The Silmarillion.We hear, too, from Tolkien’s colleagues and contemporaries at Oxford and in publishing, who discuss how Tolkien felt about his work’s reception in the wider world. And we read previously unpublished reflections from the man who arguably knew Tolkien as well as anyone, Humphrey Carpenter, his biographer.

Academic Encounters: American Studies Student's Book: Reading, Study Skills, and Writing


Jessica Williams - 2007
    There are two books for each content area. Academic Encounters: American Studies engages students with academic readings, photos, graphs, and charts on stimulating topics from the field of American Studies that deal with important events and ideas in American history and culture that are relevant to life today. Topics include government, race relations, immigration, jazz and blues, movies, hip-hop, and the interplay of American culture with cultures from around the world. Students develop important skills such as reading for detail, skimming, reading critically, note taking, and test preparation. Each chapter ends with a guided academic writing assignment. Vocabulary and academic writing tasks occur throughout the book.

Creating Powerful Radio: Getting, Keeping and Growing Audiences News, Talk, Information & Personality Broadcast, Hd, Satellite & Internet


Valerie Geller - 2007
    ISBN 9780240522241Creating Powerful RadioFor Managers, Programmers and Talent* GROW AUDIENCES - Increase your ratings! LifeStage Demographics: Know your audience and how they listen.* PROGRAMMING Build exciting programming - even on dull news days - with proven techniques to guide programmers and talent to the next level of performance.* NEWS: Write, produce and deliver powerful news. Learn multiple version techniques and much more.* PERSONALITY Identify winning talent. Develop strong air personalities. Learn to manage high ego talent and motivate your staff to do their best.* TALK Secrets to improve your show. Learn powerful radio interview techniques and ways to make the talk win big.* INFORMATION Break down the walls between news and entertainment radio. Creative methods to easily write and deliver complex, detailed stories or issues using the multi-version method.* PROMOTIONS Learn methods to spread the word about your station and write powerful copy for more effective promos and commercials* AIRCHECKING A comprehensive step-by-step guide to show prep and effective airchecking.Valerie Geller is an internationally acclaimed broadcast consultant working with stations that emphasize news, talk, information and personality radio.www.gellermedia.com

The Complete Guide to Writing Science Fiction, Volume 1: First Contact


Dave A. LawIan Irvine - 2007
    The book leads the writer from the pitfalls and clichés of a first story to selling and promoting a novel, and the writing life beyond. Topics in this guide range from the history of SF to alien creation, world building, space travel, and future medicine ­ a perfect reference and writing guide for someone wishing to write science fiction. The Complete Guide to Writing Science Fiction is written by established professionals, contributors from other DMP guides, and up-and-coming talents: Jeanne Allen Bud Sparhawk Piers Anthony Michele Acker Milena Benini Bob Nailor Orson Scott Card Michael McRae Ian Irvine Tina Morgan Wil McCarthy Darin Park Simon Rose Kim Richards ...and introducing Carol Hightshoe

Melvin Mencher's News Reporting and Writing


Melvin Mencher - 2007
    This classic text shows students the fundamentals of reporting and writing and examines the values that direct and underline the practice of journalism. The new edition features current developments in all areas of reporting, discusses the use of stark photos, provides dozens of new Internet sources and demonstrates how journalists use them. Also included in the eleventh edition are guides for campaign and election coverage, reporting tips from Pulitzer Prize winners, and an examination of recent libel cases.

Echoing Silence: Thomas Merton on the Vocation of Writing


Thomas Merton - 2007
    He sent his journals, a novel-in-progess, and copies of all his poems to his mentor, Columbia professor Mark Van Doren, for safe keeping, fully expecting to write little, if anything, ever again.? It was a relatively short-lived resolution, for Merton almost immediately found himself being assigned writing tasks by his Abbot?one of which was the autobiographical essay that blossomed into his international best-seller The Seven Storey Mountain. That book made him famous overnight, and for a time he struggled with the notion that the vocation of the monk and the vocation of the writer were incompatible. Monasticism called for complete surrender to the absolute, whereas writing demanded a tactical withdrawal from experience in order to record it.? He eventually came to accept his dual vocation as two sides of the same spiritual coin and used it as a source of creative tension the rest of his life.? Merton's thoughts on writing have never been compiled into a single volume until now. Robert Inchausti has mined the vast Merton literature to discover what he had to say on a whole spectrum of literary topics, including writing as a spiritual calling, the role of the Christian writer in a secular society, the joys and mysteries of poetry, and evaluations of his own literary work. Also included are fascinating glimpses of his take on a range of other writers, including Henry David Thoreau, Flannery O'Connor, Dylan Thomas, Albert Camus, James Joyce, and even Henry Miller, along with many others.

Writer Mama: How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids


Christina Katz - 2007
    It covers everything from getting started and finding ideas to actually finding time to do the work.

You Can Write a Story


Lisa Bullard - 2007
    Learn how to mix ingredients like characters, settings and action. Stir them up to create conflict. Cook up a beginning, middle and ending. Finally, treat yourself to a feast of the imagination. It's a recipe that can be used again and again. The playful design and lively, conversational content develops skills yet leaves room for a child's creativity. Enclosed spiral binding makes this a perfect fit for repeat uses.